Hmmm. What to do? What to do?

Guess I'll just tell 'em. They've found out anyway.

Apologies continue to readers of A Spider in Nerima. It's still on hiatus and nearly 10 years have passed since last update. I've got another Ranma story in the works, and it's taken center stage with my muse. This one's not a crossover/fusion. It's pure Ranma, though a bit of a "what if" divergence. Most of the flash backs are written, and complete story plotted, but RL and promotions / added responsibility have consumed my life, making it hard to write consistently. I must heed my own advice. A writer writes!

And I've learned a bit from writing "SiN." I'm not likely to start posting this new story until it's finished, beta-read, edited and proofread. Though a chapter of SiN may crawl on stage from time to time, it's not likely to get moved to a front burner anytime soon. I guess that's why, like so many on ff.n, a seemingly good story runs out of juice and languishes. But I've learned and am working on actually PLOTTING the final arc of SiN instead of connecting the neat scene ideas that may pop into my head.

Now back to the old profile:

I'm old, well older than most who write here it appears. Actually born the same year as the remarkable Rumiko Takahashi. Actually within a month of her, one way or the other. Dang! We're both 64!

I've been reading comics since the 60s. SF&F since the late 60s. Manga since just before Christmas 2004. Got hooked on IY thanks to Adult Swim and Ranma thanks to BAM. It woke up an old dream. To write fiction. Gah! I can't believe I set that dream aside for so many years! Anyway, here I be, flexing my writing muscles on a warm up/practice run at writing something I can sell. This is a bit different from the nearly seven years I spent writing for newspapers.

For all the aspiring writers out there, a bit of unasked for, but very valuable advice:

"Write something everyday!" -Bee Nelson

I got that bit of advice from Byron Huggins, now known as James Byron Huggins, a former co-worker and now best-selling author. Bee Nelson was an English teacher of his. I never met her, but I've taken her advice to him to heart. I always wanted to write, but never thought I had an idea good enough for a story. Doh! Since starting Spider in Nerima (SiN) as a "practice run" I've found out that if you write the ideas will come! In this regard, "Field of Dreams" got it right: "If you build it, they will come."

Currently reading:

The Bible

(I really need to finish these:)
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Watchman Nee's The Spiritual Man

Recently read:

The Magicians

Current Projects:
A second Ranma fan-fiction, tentatively titled "To THine Own Self," or "Kuruo Michi" Plotting almost complete. Scene writing begun.

A Spider in Nerima (Chapter 42 in progress.)
A Christian Primer (Or: Things I Wish They'd Known to Tell Me)
I really ought to move this one up the pecking order, but ...

An end of the world thriller I hope to sell! Tentatively titled: "Perdition's Daughter"

Best novels I've ever read:

The Shack - William P. Young (Read this and get a glimpse of the Heart of God!)

The Lord of the Rings - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

All time favorite songs in no particular order:

Riders on the Storm (Doors)
Don't Fear the Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult)
Suite Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills and Nash)
The Pinnacle (Kansas )
Dust in the Wind (Kansas)
Fool for the City (Fog Hat)
Slow Ride (Fog Hat)
Bang-A-Gong (T-Rex)
Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple)
Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
Layla (Eric Clapton)
Tiny Dancer (Elton John)
American Pie (John McClain)
Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones)

Needless to say, my radio stays on classic rock -- when I'm not listening to Switchfoot, contemporary Christian, talk radio (conservative or sports), or the sound track from the Ranma anime.

"This is your life. Are you who you want to be?" - Switchfoot

And more importantly:

"Believe! All things are possible to those who believe." - Yeshua ha Meshiah

Write Something Everyday!

-JW